Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to a method and apparatus for tracking call flows and/or for providing call flow information to devices associated with users having call handling responsibilities.
Description of the Related Art
Each employee of an enterprise is typically assigned a role having a specific set of duties around which groups of such employees are organized into departments. Examples of such departments may include sales, finance, shipping and receiving, customer service, technical support, accounting, and the like. In order to ensure that inquiries from customers, potential customers, and/or vendors are handled efficiently and effectively, it is not uncommon for a business to advertise more than one contact number as, for example, a main number, as well as numbers for one or more functions as identified above. Moreover, a business may set up special numbers just for use in tracking the effectiveness of advertising campaigns such, for example, as web-based advertising campaigns (e.g., Google AdWords and the like).
Whether or not an organization has anticipated (or planned) for a customer or potential customer to make contact via a particular phone number, winning and/or keeping a customer's business may depend on answering the call quickly and forwarding the call to the right employee(s) with as little delay as possible.
What is needed is a method and apparatus for providing users of terminal devices with call flow information by which the path taken by a calling party, such as a customer, can be readily visualized and/or distinguished.